


Soft Ripples in the Breeze

by Writerleft



Series: Comes Marching Home [65]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Bittersweet, For a Friend, Funeral
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-04 06:13:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10985040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writerleft/pseuds/Writerleft
Summary: My friend @wordcatchers recently lost somebody close to her, a teacher and mentor who had a big impact on her life. I can't be there for hugs or direct consolation, but since Korrasami is my entire skillset, nowadays, I've done what I could.Very sorry for your loss, friend. But you, like Korra, had the blessing of knowing somebody wonderful.





	Soft Ripples in the Breeze

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wordcatchers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordcatchers/gifts).



Today was going to be a hard day.

It had been a hard week, full of fitful nights, but today promised to be the hardest.

The air was cold, but felt colder. The sky bison they were riding approached its destination. Korra wished they never would, but the mountain drew closer all the same. Asami's arm around her back seemed the only thing reminding her of warmth, and more—of survival, and forgiveness. They had both had hard days before, and, in time, better days had come. Korra tried to remember that.

Still.

Everybody would have been there, if they could. That was what the remembrance ceremony tonight was for. This... this was Air Nomad tradition. Only the second time in nearly two centuries that it had been observed. Only immediate family were allowed—and Korra was told, in no uncertain terms, that she and Asami counted. Asami wasn't so sure, but Korra was glad she was there, all the same.

She hated it. She hated being part of it, hated being here, hated the snow and the shadow, hated that the city beneath them just continued on as if everything were the same.

Tenzin was gone.

Tonight, there would be stories. Remembrances of times, good and bad. Recently and long ago. Of all of Tenzin's hopes and joys, and yes, too, of his failures. Everyone would be there—it was the biggest gathering of dignitaries since her and Asami's wedding. Pictures would headline the papers the next day, and everyone would move on.

How could they do that?

Three sky bison landed around a plinth that had stood bare for decades. Since the week Korra was born. Tenzin and his siblings had built it themselves, then. Perhaps there was some beauty to be found in that?

Asami reached up, dabbing a handkerchief at Korra's eyes. “You know I'll never tell you not to cry,” she murmured, “but freezing tears to your face won't make the day any better.”

Korra took her in a tight hug as Meelo brought the bison in to land. “How am I supposed to say goodbye?”

“You're not,” Meelo said. He'd hit the airbender philosophy hard as Tenzin withered. “His spirit may have passed from this life, but—”

“I believe Korra is familiar with what you're saying,” Asami interrupted curtly. Meelo looked away, embarrassed; a moment later, Asami did too.

“Grandfather wouldn't want us fighting,” Tingwen said, looking between her father and Asami. “Sadness is not a shameful thing, but think of what we're doing? Grandfather spent his life rebuilding this culture. The fact that we are all here, today, is only testament to his success.”

Korra took a deep breath, nodding. She did not say, but felt, the overriding desire to get this over with.

They dismounted the bison, the youngest of Tenzin's grandchildren helping their mother, Bumi, and Kya to the ground. Lin, naturally, dismounted herself, even if it clearly hurt her hips to do it.

Korra and Asami held back—Asami, feeling out of place, Korra, because... because why? Pema told her Tenzin wanted her there, but she wasn't Tenzin's daughter, not really.

Besides.

His four actual children were more than enough to move his body to the plinth.

The minute the still form wrapped in saffron cloth lifted from the bison's back, Korra lost it. Freezing temperatures or no, there was no hiding from this anymore. No denying the reality of it. One glance, the bright shroud rippling softly in the breeze, and she knew it was an image she'd never shake.

Tenzin was gone.

Months spent getting weaker, every preparation made, and still, it came as a shock.

She was on her knees without realizing it, Asami holding her tight, cradling Korra's head against her shoulder.

“He was…” Korra sniffed, shuddering, trying to think of words. What words could she say?

“I know honey,” Asami said, rocking her softly.

“It’s… he always believed in me! Even when I was being terrible to him, he was always… always _there_ , always… but now he’s gone and he’s just… just…”

“He had a good life,” Asami said. “He was very proud of everything he did, and very proud of everything _you_ did.”

“Oh, spirits,” Korra croaked, and cried harder. “Don’t say that!”

“It’s true,” Asami said, rubbing Korra’s neck. “Whenever he talked about you, you could see the pride in his eyes. How much he enjoyed seeing you strong and happy.”

Right now, she wasn’t either. “But I… Asami, I was barely there for him! The last few months, especially…”

“Korra,” Asami scolded. “You had that crisis in Xinzu, then the wildfires before that. You didn’t have the time--”

“I could have _made_ the time.”

“Korra,” Pema said, standing over them.

Korra shrank into her wife’s embrace. Then she took a breath, and looked up, wiping her eyes. “Pema, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to help! I--”

Tears traced down Pema’s face too, but her smile was serene as she bent down to embrace the Avatar. “You don’t need to apologize. Tenzin loved you. He was never sure where you fit in--you have his father’s soul, so should he revere you like a parent? But you carried on Aang’s legacy, like Tenzin was, so were you a sibling? But he also helped train you, prepare you for the world.”

‘He was like a second father,’ Korra wanted to say, though her throat wouldn’t allow it.

“It was an honor to know him,” Asami said.

“And he was honored to call you both family.” Pema gave them both a squeeze.

“How can you be so calm!” Korra cried, almost accusatory. Hating herself for her tone, but letting the question stand all the same.

Pema sighed, and turned to her children, and the gaggle of grandchildren around them, still standing in a circle around the Air Nation’s late patriarch. “I’m not,” she admitted. “But grieving is an odd thing. I may cry myself to sleep tonight, but right now…” She brushed Korra’s hair from her eye. “...I’ve got you kids to think about.”

Korra gave a pensive nod, her eyes falling on her wife. “I can’t imagine how much you miss him.” Asami squeezed her hand.

The scent of incense wafted over them. Kai held Jinora in his arms, standing at the head of the cairn, while Tenzin’s other children and their wives and kids huddled together, murmuring quietly. Jinora and Kai’s eldest, Dhargey, held his own son close, soothing him near Tenzin’s feet.

“C’mon,” Asami said, helping Korra stand. “You’ll regret it later, if you don’t go now.”

Korra took a deep breath, allowing herself to be led. They approached the side, near Jinora and Kai.

Where Korra had been avoiding looking before, now, all she could do was stare.

As if his eyes would open. As if his pale, sagging flesh would come back to life, and he’d be just how he was. As if she’d ever hear his voice again. Not another word of wisdom, not another laugh or sigh.

Tenzin was gone. His spirit had already passed, and by Air Nomad tradition, his empty vessel was to be left open to the air, for nature to reclaim it. In a few minutes, they’d all hop back on the bison and leave what was left of Tenzin behind.

This was goodbye.

Except, it wasn’t.

She’d never gotten to say it. They’d known for months that this was coming, everyone had kept asking Korra to come by, but when she did, she spoke of trivialities. She fidgeted at Tenzin’s coughs, turned away at his lapses of memory…

“I never told him how much I’m gonna miss him,” Korra whispered, squeezing Asami’s fingers for dear life. “I told him… get better! See you soon! I never… I never...”

“Tell him now,” Asami said.

“I can’t! He’s… he’s…”

“Don’t say it for his sake. Say it for yours. He’ll hear.”

“How?!”

Asami gestured at everyone around them. “Tenzin lives on, through his family. Through the people that loved him. Everybody here carries a little bit of him with them. And everybody we’ve touched in our lives, too. His wisdom, his optimism, his loyalty… he touched the best parts of all of us. And we carry that with us, still.”

Korra rested her head on her wife’s shoulder, still staring at her departed mentor. “You’re saying it so well already… what’s left for me?”

Asami placed a gentle kiss behind her ear. “Whatever you need to.”

She took a breath, considering. Making sure her voice was steady. She knelt down, her hands on Tenzin’s cold, still arm. “Tenzin, I...”

What words were there? What could she say?

“I love you,” she said. “You were more than my teacher. You were my mentor, you were my family, you were my friend, and the world is less now without you. It’s better because you were in it. I… I think you knew that. I really hope you did.” She sniffed, wiping her nose. “I’ll take care of everyone here, and the rest of the Air Nation. But you knew that too.”

Korra tilted her head back, looking up at the clear sky.

“I know… I know you spent a lot of your life, trying to live up to your father, hoping that Aang would be proud of you. If I could ask him, I’m sure… sure he’d have something better to say, something more meaningful, but I just… _I’m_ proud of you, Tenzin. From the Avatar, that’s gotta count for something, right?”

She shook her head. “We… we barely talked Avatar stuff, for the last… spirits, how long has it even been? It’s like I said, you weren’t just my mentor, you were… you were more support. You were always behind me, even when I wasn’t having any of it. You put up with me as a teenager, and if anything should qualify you for some sort of major award, that would be it.”

Korra chuckled, squeezing the stiff flesh beneath the simple robe. “You were a good person. It’s gonna hurt, that you’re gone, for a long time. But… like Asami said, all of us carry a bit of you with us. More literally in the case of your actual kids but… you know what I mean. Or you would or… I dunno. I just… I hope you find a happy life, wherever you’ve gone. I just hope, my next go ‘round, we’ll meet again.”

Her lips moved, but her voice was barely a whisper, just one last, little breath of air: “Goodbye.”

 

_Fanart courtesy of[astrodoesart](https://astrodoesart.tumblr.com/post/174913991722/some-fanart-for-threehoursfromtroy-from-the)_

**Author's Note:**

> [Visit me on my tumblr! Say hi! ](https://threehoursfromtroy.tumblr.com/)


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